StarVox, Inc. announced the release of StarVox VoIP Business Trunking with VPN 2.5, a new version of the company's IP telephony solution. Among its many advantages, StarVox VoIP Business Trunking with VPN 2.5 now supports carrier-based decision making of call routing. This provides VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) telephony carriers broad new business opportunities for VoIP wholesaling in addition to retail services such as local and long distance calling already supported in earlier releases of the product.

StarVox VoIP Business Trunking with VPN 2.5 features Unicast Prefix-Based Routing, a new implementation of leading edge StarVox technology that directs calls through specific gatekeepers as well as gateways, based on carrier-definable criteria such as call source or dialed number. This ability to dynamically discriminate in routing decisions provides flexibility in multiple carrier call handling, and allows the service provider to support several business models on the same telephony platform.

"StarVox VoIP Business Trunking with VPN 2.5 represents a significant and unique value proposition for wholesale providers of VoIP services," said Al Wokas, President and CEO of StarVox, Inc. "Now VoIP carriers have more flexibility than ever. They can put idle capacity to work in the wholesale market, grow into retail business services such as local and long distance calling, and do it all on the same technology platform. What's more, this new version enables providers to sell transit services to both VoIP and traditional carriers with no change in infrastructure."

StarVox VoIP Business Trunking with VPN 2.5's Unicast Prefix-Based Routing supports virtually any third-party VoIP gatekeeper, giving users the ability to execute toll bypass between any pair of providers. Any tandem combination is possible, PSTN-to-VoIP-to-PSTN, VoIP-to-VoIP-to-PSTN, PSTN-to-VoIP-to-VoIP, or VoIP-to-VoIP-to-VoIP, between both retail and other wholesale carriers.

StarVox VoIP Business Trunking with VPN 2.5 provides an economical, robust, and scalable VoIP service environment that meets the needs of any network service provider (ISP, ASP, or NSP). Its feature-rich architecture includes:

HP's OCMC (OpenCall Multiservice Controller) 1.2, a robust, scalable platform based on market-proven Open Call technology;
PSTN Gateway Flexible Routing, which not only automatically distributes call traffic among multiple gateways, and re-routes calls that encounter congestion, out-of-service gateways, or other failures;
Forced On-Net, which routes PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) dialed calls through a service provider's VoIP network, when the dialed number is a destination on the same network, thus avoiding PSTN call termination charges;
IP Phone Support, enabling network connection to any H.323v2-compliant phone, either stand alone or PC software based;
VoIP VPN Virtual On-Net, which allows PSTN-based recipients to be part of a company's private voice network, and to be called via VPN.
StarVox VoIP Business Trunking with VPN 2.5 allows network service providers to become licensed, IP-based telephony carriers without investing in a Class 5 switch. Industry statistics show that on average, 75% of business communication costs are for voice services, suggesting that a service provider delivering data services can potentially experience a fourfold increase in revenue from an existing data/internet business subscriber simply by delivering voice services over the same IP access wire.

For an existing telephone carrier, StarVox's solution offers an easy cap-and-grow transition to next-generation telephony. By deploying a StarVox-based solution alongside an existing CO switch, ILECs and CLECs are able to expand their networks with IP-based segments. Offering next generation telephony services allows ILECs and CLECs to both expand their customer base and ensure competitive service offerings based on the latest technology development.

Geared for the needs of small, medium, and enterprise businesses, StarVox VoIP Business Trunking with VPN enables a service provider or carrier to handle both incoming and outgoing calls as well as mandatory services such as 911 and 411. The VPN component can connect company branches, remote offices, and/or telecommuters over a virtual, private IP network; what's more, the VPN technology can fuse already installed TDM (Time Division Multiplex)-based private voice networks with newer IP-based systems into a single voice VPN, enabling multi-site businesses to maintain a seamless system with private network dialing capabilities as they migrate to VoIP.